Starbucks is bringing consumers out of their post-Valentines
Day slumps by sharing a love-themed music playlist with Snapchat followers,
highlighting how the brand keeps its Spotify partnership at the center
of its mobile marketing efforts.

After making a strong push for Valentines Day sales on
its social channels, Starbucks is inspiring consumers to keep up with the happy
feelings associated with the holiday. Its Snapchat followers were privy to a
Story this week that featured some of the brand's red-tinged beverages and invited fans
to follow a link to a Spotify-powered playlist for some love-oriented tunes.

"Starbucks currently offers customers free music
downloads in-store with its Pick of the Week program, so a partnership with
Spotify is a next logical extension, said Laura Sossong, senior consultant at Boston
Retail Partners. As the Starbucks customer and the Snapchat user tend to be
largely the same audience, accessing the application and its 100 million daily
Snapchat users will be highly effective to launch the new Spotify
playlists."

Warming
up cross-partnershipsStarbucks
has long been a proponent of relevant brand partnerships, as evidenced by its
collaborations with the New York Times and Spotify.

Starbucks partnership with streaming service Spotify
points to the untapped potential of combining food and beverage marketers
mobile loyalty programs with music, as younger demographics put smartphones at
the center of their content consumption and may be swayed to join programs with
cross-partnership perks (see story).

Although bricks-and-mortar Starbucks locations ensure
that they keep Spotify-related content front-and-center for customers, the
beverage marketer sought to remind mobile users of the partnership. Fans
following Starbucks on Snapchat were able to view a new Story this week, which
depicted several images of red-colored drinks with musical emojis superimposed
on top.

The brand then invited individuals to Take the love
songs of Starbucks with you  before panning to another picture displaying the
link to the Spotify playlist, http://sbux.co/LovePlaylist.

Starbucks regularly rolls out content on Snapchat

Consumers could input the link into their mobile
browsers, or open the Spotify app to search for the designated
Starbucks-branded playlist.

The playlist opened up the perfect opportunity for
Starbucks enthusiasts to listen to love songs while sipping on a latte
in-store, or while going about their daily activities.

Additionally, individuals who did not previously have a
Spotify membership may have been swayed to register for one so that they could
access the curated playlist.

Spotify may see an uptick in membership sign-ups following Starbucks' call-to-action

Starbucks has been one of the biggest mobile supporters
in the food and beverage industry in the past year. In addition to
cross-partnerships, the brands Mobile Order & Pay platform has converted a
slew of consumers into new fans.

Growing adoption of Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay
program is a boon for the chain during the morning rush, when use increases and
accounts for about 10 percent of transactions (see story).

Pouring
out real-time contentStarbucks
is engaging in a smart strategy by taking to Snapchat to advertise readily
available real-time content for fans to enjoy.

Other quick service restaurant chains with strong
followings would be well-suited to employ the same tactics.

Dunkin Donuts also rewarded Snapchat followers with
fun material this week by introducing a new geofilter prior to the Grammy
Awards and asking fans to give honorary music awards to friends by tagging them
on Twitter or Instagram.

"Snapchat campaigning certainly makes sense for
those QSR chains targeting trend-conscious, social media savvy demographics
that engage in dialogue with other users on a consistent basis, Ms. Sossong
said. The application is a true fit for those marketing to segments that view
announcements and offers in real-time.

Alex Samuely is staff writer on Mobile Marketer, New York. Reach her at alex@mobilemarketer.com.